Differences in Aviation Circuit Breakers - Weikewei GBB Certified Quality
The electrical system of an aircraft requires some form of electrical overload protection. This is usually solved by using many circuit breakers or fuses. Each set of related electrical equipment in the aircraft (lights, radios, avionics, etc.) will include its own fuses or circuit breakers. Their purpose is to protect these devices in case of overload or electrical short circuit (by shutting them off). The concept of having separate groups of related electrical equipment means that the closure of one group (due to overload or short circuit) will not affect other electrical equipment and will allow them to continue operating.You can choose to use fuses or circuit breakers in the project. The functions performed by the two are basically the same, but the methods are slightly different. When the fuse "blows", it needs to be replaced by simply pressing the button to reset the circuit breaker. There are two styles of circuit breakers: those that can be manually "tripped" or closed, and those that do not have this function. Before choosing a circuit breaker, you need to determine which style is preferred. The fuse can be unplugged from its socket at any time, which will cause the circuit to "fail" electrically. For maintenance or testing purposes, disabling specific circuits can provide very useful functionality: it can keep the remaining equipment on the aircraft active. For example, if you want to troubleshoot electrical noise sources in a com radio, disabling the circuit once (instead of during flight) will be quick and easy until the noise disappears.
Moreover, in complex electrical systems without available schematics, it has become easy to identify the equipment belonging to each circuit. Pulling out a fuse will quickly identify devices that cannot be used. Manufacturers usually do not create pre made electrical diagrams for their aircraft. Along the way, by using the function of pulling fuses and disabling individual circuits, electrical problems can be easily solved without the need to draw charts. The advantages of the mentioned fuses also apply to circuit breakers that can be manually tripped. On the other hand, if you choose a circuit breaker that cannot be manually tripped, you will lose the ability to kill and isolate individual circuits. Imagine if one day you wanted to manually shut down the circuit and realized that the circuit breaker did not allow this function, your response would be "Oh no! Considering in advance can have a significant impact on the future. I haven't found a sufficient reason not to always use manually tripped circuit breakers - aside from cost, of course. This is similar to making the fuse impossible to remove once inserted. Your favorite aviation electrical supplier can provide two types of circuit breakers. Avoid displaying the word 'unable to manually trip' in the description. Ensure to select models that can be manually tripped and retain controls to turn off the power to each circuit separately. One day, you will have this feature when upgrading, troubleshooting, or modifying the electrical system of your self built house.